


Iditarod

by opheliashook



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe, BAMF Haruno Sakura, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Feels, Fix-It, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Haruno Sakura-centric, No Uchiha Massacre, Non-Linear Narrative, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective Haruno Sakura, Protective Hatake Kakashi, Protective Uchiha Sasuke, Protective Uzumaki Naruto, Time Travel, What am I getting into, dealing with the choices you made, is this another time travel fic, yes it is but with my spin on it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-27
Updated: 2019-02-09
Packaged: 2019-05-29 06:53:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15067586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/opheliashook/pseuds/opheliashook
Summary: How will Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke navigate the world they fixed when they still feel broken.





	1. Team 7 returns to Konoha

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Time Flies Like An Arrow](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12668358) by [Katlou303](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katlou303/pseuds/Katlou303). 



> I've had this idea for a time travel/ fix-it fic ever since reading the wonderful amazing stories on this site.  
> Seriously if you've written a time travel fic I've probably read it and gushed.
> 
> This is my take which is going to focus more on the consequences in living in the world team 7 fixed than on them fixing it. Don't worry there will be both! Im going to play with timeline like a whole lot so get ready for a ride. This will have all three team 7 moments and stories but I'm a sucker for Sakura so I'll probably focus on her more because come on she deserves it.
> 
> The song Iditarod by Cape Francis was a huge inspiration and the lyrics will appear at the beginning of each chapter.

_awhile on the road_

 

 

 

Kakashi was dragged to the bar by Gai over some ridiculous competition on who could drink the most. He only really went because his three adorable and infuriating team members had come back from their first long-term mission without him, and he had a suspicion they would be here. They usually went to the bar together after a mission to declare their conquest and try to get people to pay for their alcohol. Teenagers were usually predictable like that. At least his three were. 

So that's why Kakashi was sipping his beer and scanning the bar waiting for three familiar faces to show, as Gai continued to drink himself to oblivion. 

"I shall defeat you" Gai yelled in between gulps.

"I think you already have." Kakashi remarked. He was starting to regret agreeing to this but he couldn't find his team anywhere today. This was his last option.

He spotted Ino, Chouji, and Shikamaru laughing and eating in a booth and decided he was desperate enough to ask the best source of gossip in town. That girl always new what was going on. 

"Kakashi-sensei. Didn't realize you were into this kind of scene" Ino remarked when Kakashi leaned against their booth.

He looked around at the young Shinobi and the drunken mess of Gai. "Im not. Im looking for the three knuckleheads I call teammates. Do you know if they are making an appearance tonight?"

Ino seemed surprised that he would ask. Everyone knew that team 7 was close knit. The only reason Kakashi didn't do missions with them as often was his new position as head guard of the Hokage. 

"Uh no I don't. I did see Naruto when I was walking to the shop this morning. He was acting really weird and he let his hair grow so I almost thought he was Minato-sama. It doesn't suit him if you ask me. I tried to get some dirt out of him but he just said he had to get to Sakura's place and ran off. I swear it was like the world was ending or something." Ino huffed.

Kakashi hadn't really thought that strange most of the things Naruto did seemed over the top to most. He probably just forgot his rations of ramen at her place. Naruto had taken to hiding his stashes of instant ramen around town since Kushina wouldn't let them in her house. 

"Okay thanks anyways," Kakashi replied. As he was starting to leave someone else piped in.

"Well I saw Naruto cry like a new born baby today."

He turned to see one of Gai's students, Tenten walk up to the booth. It seemed Gai's team had come to clean up the mess. Rock Lee was praising his sensei for being so youthful in the face of alcohol and Neji was listing off the signs of alcohol poisoning. 

"What?" Everyone asked in unison. 

"Yeah and I'm pretty sure Sakura was too. It was really weird. Neji and I had just finished training and we were going to get some food when we passed them in the street. Of course we wanted to know how their big solo mission went so we stopped them, but they just started crying. Naruto almost crushed Neji in a hug, which made him super embarrassed." Tenten whispered with a laugh. "Even Sasuke gave him a weird shoulder pat!"

Now, Kakashi had to admit, that was weird. Sasuke showing affection only happened when they thought they were all going to die. He started to question what happened to them on their mission. Regretting not going with them. 

"You guys really shouldn't be making fun of your peers this way." Iruka-sensei jumped in from the booth next to them. "I mean its totally normal for people to show their emotions, some just express them a little more than others. As long as Asuma-sensei didn't mind it shouldn't matter-"

"What does Asuma have to do with this?" Kakashi questioned. Iruka didn't look intoxicated but he wasn't making any sense. 

"You guys were talking about how Naruto was crying in front of Asuma and I just think that you shouldn't judg-"

"Actually we were talking about him crying in front of Neji." Ino corrects.

At this iruka face turned crimson, "Oh well nevermind then!" 

Kakashi was officially worried. 

"Wow maybe they lost their minds!"

"Maybe something really bad happened on their mission?"

"Wasn't it only a B rank?"

"Who cares-"

Kakashi started to tune out the bickering around him and walked out of the bar and went straight to the Hokage tower.

"I thought I gave you a mandatory night off to celebrate your cute team returning." The Hokage said from his pile of paperwork.

"Yeah well I cant find them." Kakashi responded as he slipped through the window.  He gave one of his Anbu operatives stationed in a nearby tree a friendly wave. "Have they come to report yet?"

"Actually they haven't, which doesn't seem like them. You always liked to drill in deadlines to your students _Kakashi-sensei."_

"Yeah well they always looked up to you more with your late attitude _Ob_ _ito-sama._ " 

Obito laughed and shook his head. He started to sign another paper in the mountain on his desk as he said, "You can't blame this on me. I did see them today when I was walking through the new Uchiha district. I told them to check in with me later. I think I startled them." 

"What were they doing over there?" 

"I don't know if they were trying to avoid checking in with me, but if they were it was a poor spot to do it." Again another piece to the puzzle that made no sense. Kakashi thought he was going insane. They were suppose to be his predictable teammates. Three months couldn't of changed them that much.

Obito could see the worry on his friends face. "Don't worry. They probably wore themselves out bickering and are snoozing somewhere."

Kakashi highly doubted that after what he had heard at the bar. It seemed like they had taken a tour of Konoha.

"If I don't find them in the next hour I think we should put together a search team. Something doesn't feel right-" as he spoke the faint sound of talking grew louder. He recognized those voices; especially that bickering.

Obito announced to come in before they could even knock. There was a long pause before the doors opened. When they did team 7 was revealed behind it. Kakashi noticed that Naruto's hair wasn't long like Ino claimed. In fact all three of them had short hair. He had never seen Sasuke's hair that short. They all also seemed taller, if that was even possible in three months. They were them but different. It made him feel even more worried.

All three looked surprisingly to Obito behind the Hokage desk, then to Kakashi, and then back to Obito. This repeated at least five times. Kakashi swore Naruto's eyes began to tear up and Sasuke looked the most emotional he had ever seen him. The only one keeping it together seemed to be Sakura which made even less sense. She quickly elbowed them both.

"You three have a lot of explaining to do." Kakashi stated. 

They didn't even know where to begin. 


	2. Waking up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for response! It's because of this that I finished the second chapter so quickly.

_In all that time, we never get tired of sleeping_

Sasuke wakes to an unfamiliar ceiling. Well most ceilings are unfamiliar when you usually sleep outdoors and inside inns. So he tries to piece together yesterday. The first thing that surfaces is the strange dream he had about Kakashi-sensei being punctual. He bolts upright when the image of Sakura’s bloody back, as she faces down hordes of white zetsu comes to the front of his mind. Pulling on the first pair of pants he finds which oddly resemble the jounin issued ones he searches for a mirror or any reflective surface. He finds one under the green flak jacket that is definitely jounin issued. This revelation gives him all sorts of mixed feelings he doesn’t have the time or want to unpack. He throws the jacket to a corner of the room and picks up the smudged mirror. He angles it so he can see his back and sees the numbers that had been counting down ever since his moment in time are gone. _So this is it_ he thinks _._ His new reality. There is light tap at the door. "Sasuke are you awake?" He stiffens. He doesn't really remember this voice but it seems he doesn't have to, because his body does. It's reaching for the door and his heart is pumping loudly in his ears.

Naruto wakes to an unfamiliar smell. Its like food cooking, but if he left food out last night, that is now catching fire, it would never smell this good. Not that its happened to him... much. He mulls over the idea of a home cooked meal as he tries to remember something. Or did he have to remember everything? Its jumbled up with the dreams he had of his genin team chasing cats. It isn't till he hears a loud yelling that he opens his eyes. The room is unfamiliar. Its messy and has a lot of memorabilia from someones childhood. He gets up and decides someone really is cooking and that yell sounded familiar. He’s hit with a memory of Sakura yelling at an army of white zetsu as she rams her fist into the ground and screams at him. “Go I've got this!” she smiles and he takes off with Sasuke. Naruto is jolted out of the daydream by another scream this time he's pretty sure it's calling his name. So he starts to walk out of the room and towards the smell. He's starting to put the pieces together but its the sight of an angry red haired woman that he only knew in dreams that solves the puzzle for him.

Sakura doesn't wake for a long time. When she does its to a familiar bedroom in an apartment she hasn't seen in quite some time. It's the groggiest she’s ever woken up and wonders if she is going to miss her shift at the hospital. But something about that statement doesn't sit right. It's like a 7 year old worry she never figured out. So she decides she doesn't want to think just yet. She just gets up and goes straight to her kitchen were she can grab something hot and caffeinated to drink. She doesn't pay any close attention to anything in her apartment she just sips her morning drink and lets the thoughts come freely. She's right in the middle of analyzing her dream of Kakashi-sensei when the door starts banging. Her body is on high alert as she grabs a kunai from underneath the table and goes to the door. She only opens it a crack before two flustering and overly excited boys are shoving their way inside.

"Naruto I told you she would be sleeping." Sasuke lectures as Naruto lands on sakura tears in his eyes.

"We did it" he sobs out. The tears are flowing and she's pretty sure he is dripping snot. Sasuke eyes look red rimmed and now she's crying and why is she crying. _What did we do?_

"We did it." Sakura whispers, as it floods back to her. Seven years gone. They did the impossible and she can't find a better reason for a group hug, so she grabs at Sasuke's jounin like pants. For once he gives in and allows them to tackle him to the ground.

"So i guess you guys had a surprising morning." Sakura says as she watches her boys laugh and bicker through the watery eyes. Watching them nod and pull her towards the door with promises of showing her just what they saw filled her heart.

She didn't question why she still remembered her time travel experience and her life before that. Why she didn't seem to have any new memories either. If the seven long years messing with the future had taught her anything it was that It didn't matter what she faced out in this new world because she had them.

* * *

Seven years ago

Sasuke woke to trees; to the sun rising and birds singing. It felt peaceful. The world was on repair. It had been a few days since the war had ended and people were trying to piece together the life they had in front of them. He thought that maybe they would learn from this. Maybe people could understand. Loss was a learned experience and Sasuke had been taught well. He got up and made his way towards Konoha. It was time to fix things.

Sakura woke to the buzzing of her alarm. Her body jerked into a sitting position as she mechanically pulled on her work outfit. Another day at the hospital. She tried not to mull over the funerals from yesterday and how heavy her heart felt. The memorial stone was where half the village seemed to be. The other half was in the hospital. Small steps she told herself. The world was changed but she was ready to fix it.

Naruto woke to the knocking on his door. He scrambled through his messy apartment tripping over empty boxes and ripped open the door. He was surprised to find Sasuke there.

"You ready" he asked Naruto still in his sleepy state questioned.

"For what? It must be like 6am let me go back to sleep." Sasuke stiffened at this.

"Naruto we have to get started on this."

"On what?"

"Fixing Konoha.” He said with an eye roll. “The logical time to start is when it's in pieces, so lets start. I think we should start with looking at the power given to the Hokage and see how we keep more checks and balances to insure an even distribution of action."

"But now at like 6am? Come on I was up all night with Team Gai after the funeral..”

"This is important-”

“Wait. Didn't Sakura make you promise to get your eyes checked today. You’re avoiding this aren’t you?”

“That's not the point.”

“Oh come on you can’t get out of this let's go.” Naruto states, pulling Sasuke by his one arm towards the hospital.

“You're still in your pajamas.” Sasuke states, staring at the noodles on his bright orange bottoms.

“Wouldn't be the first time.” Naruto replies. “Come on we’ve got to fix this.”

Sasuke has a suspicion they have different ideas about fixing things.

They arrived at the hospital. They tried to track down a nurse to see where Sakura was. It didn't help that everyone seemed to be avoiding the two like they were due for another fight. It took too long to spot the pink hair kneeling down by a cot stitching up a mans arm.

“No chakra?” Sasuke asked nonchalantly.

Naruto rolled his eyes.“Not the way to ask that question teme.”

Sakura's eyebrows twitched. “No. There's just too many people.” She says as she motions to her surroundings. “So small fixes are being handled this way and then we can work on the extreme cases with our entire strength. Why are you two here?” She looked to the clock on the wall.”and at 7am?”

Naruto somehow combined a grin and a yawn as he stated. “Sasuke is getting an eye exam.”

Sakura stilled at this. “You're really going to let me do it?” She stared excitedly towards Sasuke.

Sasuke looked away. “Let's just get this over with.”

The three of them ended up in a small room with Sakura’s hands on either side of Sasuke’s head.

“This is fascinating! I've never seen chakra coils react this way.”

“How?” Sasuke and Naruto ask in unison.

“Well usually with _dojutsu_ the chakra sent to the eye alters the eyes genetic makeup but only as long as the chakra is flowing, which is a limited time. Sasuke’s rinnegan doesn't have the limiter and the eye is a constant flow of chakra, more like a bloodstream than how chakra flows normally. Which should waste a ton of chakra but it isn’t!”

“Can i see?” Naruto asked as he put a hand over Sakura’s. The past few days Sakura had been trying to teach Naruto small medical jutsu. They figured it might come in handy since he had been able to use the Kurama chakra to heal. Naruto pushed his chakra with Sakuras and tried to feel what she did. Sasuke’s eyes started to spin intensely under the unfamiliar chakra.

“Wait Naruto stop!” Sakura yelled. Sasuke’s eyes began to spin furiously and the three of them were sucked away.

 

Sasuke wakes to the feeling of two hands.

Sakura wakes to the feeling of long hair brushing against her arms.

Naruto wakes to the sound of Sakura yelling.

“This can’t be possible. Sasuke stop this illusion it’s not funny. If you don’t I swear to _Kami_ i’ll punch us out of it.” Sakura is rambling as she looks down at her smaller frame and wonders if she can even summon chakra to her fists like this.

“I’ve tried! This isn’t an illusion.” Sasuke yells back.

 _When did Sasuke’s voice get so high_ Naruto thinks as he looks at his teammates.

He was staring at two thirteen year olds that looked exactly like his two best friends. They were sitting in a forest that didn't look familar and Naruto was officially worried.

“What’s going on?” Naruto looked down to see he was also younger.

“Sasuke put us in a genjutsu!” Sakura yelled. 

“No I didn’t!”

“Calm down you guys lets just take a moment and figure this out.” Naruto yelled. They quieted down. Naruto wasn’t usually the peacekeeper paired with the strange circumstances everyone became speechless. There was a lot of staring and prodding at their small forms. No one knew how to start.

It was the distant sound of crying that broke the tension.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Get ready for some time travel shenanigans


	3. Obito

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the newest chapter in time traveling shenanigans with my favorite trio. With the appropriate amount of angst and hilarity I hope.

_Let It come as it goes_

 

Present

Standing in the hokage tower and staring at Obito as the Hokage was about as changed as they were going to get it, but it was the tall standing Kakashi that broke Sakura. He looked happy. Well currently he looked really confused and maybe even worried, but he was wearing Anbu style clothes that actually fit him and he stood straight and _Kami_ they had missed him. Sakura was the first to break the silence as she grabbed Kakashi in what would soon be the fourth group hug of the day.

“What the hell happened to you guys” Kakashi laughed as he brought in his teammates.

“We sort of saved the world.” Naruto stated as he nuzzled into his teammates.

“Twice.” Sasuke added as he pulled out of the hug.

Sakura just laughed as tears fell down her face. “We just really missed you.”

“It was only 3 months. I thought you could handle it.”

“Yeah well it felt like seven years” She responded. He tugged at her short hair. “Short hair looks good on you Sakura.”   
The smile on Sakura’s face faltered at his comment. “Thanks.”

It was the small things that brought the trio back to reality. This wasn't truly their Konoha. They had missed Kakashi, but they had missed the man that had showed up late to training because he couldn’t let go of the names written on a stone. That wasn’t the man in front of them. That man was gone. They had taken the scars that lined his heart and got rid of them making him someone new. 

A part of Sakura thinks she killed him and so many others. She wonders how she become a mass murderer so quickly, but it wasn’t quick. It was a build up of years of choices she made that killed them. It was her waking every day in the past that dug the grave.

She kept leaving Konoha. She wonders if she’ll ever have the heart to really leave.  

“Sorry Kakashi sensei you'll have to leave the room for this one.” Sakura stated as Naruto pulled out a black mission scroll with a deep red seal. Obito eyed the scroll and looked to Kakashi, “I’m afraid they are right about this one. Seems like they got into a bit of trouble on this mission.”

“Maa looks like my little Genin don’t need me as much.” Kakashi chuckled as he vanished.

The three winced at the comment.

Obito turned towards them with a solemn look on his face. “So what actually happened on this mission.”

“We saved the world.” Naruto replied.

“Twice.” Sasuke repeated.

“I think the more accurate way to say this is we changed the world… twice. ” Sakura stated.

  


Seven years ago

 

The crying was faint, but it reminded Sasuke of a dying animal.

It was the sound of despair, of true anguish, and it tore at Sakura’s heart. She immediately went to the sound without a glance back at the other two. It was the sound she had come to know recently in the halls of the hospital. The sound of loss. The landscape changed to rock as she neared the noise.

“Dammit!” Sakura yelled as she tried to move the pieces of rock away. “Why did I have to be thirteen again” The rocks didn’t budge, but the sobbing stopped.

“Is someone there?” The young voice was muffled, but Sakura tried to get closer to the sound.

“Yes I’m a medic where are you? Do you need medical attention?”

“Did my friends send you? I’m down here!”

“I’m on my way.” Sakura didn’t have the heart to tell him that she stumbled on him by accident.

Sasuke and Naruto had arrived to find Sakura trying and failing to move the rocks to what seemed to be a cave in.

“So we don’t even have our previous abilities.” Sasuke commented.

“This is so not the time for analyzing. Come help me lift this. I can still put chakra to increase my strength but my thirteen year old reserves are so small it’s barely doing anything.” Sakura turned to see Naruto jumping and holding onto his hand in pain. Clearly having tried to smash the boulder and failing. “Naruto lift!”

“I don’t get it. I can still talk with Kurama. He hasn’t changed, but i can’t control my chakra! This SUCKS”

The three were able to move the first boulder away, but the voice had stopped talking.

“Hey! I need you to keep talking to me okay? What’s your name?” Sakura voiced into the darkness around her. “Sasuke light something for me” Sasuke glared summoned his Katon Jutsu to light up the area in one burst. “Not like that what if you burn them!”

“Well be more specific next time!”

“Kami guys stop fighting it’s driving me crazy.”

Naruto hated when they fought. It was nothing like when Naruto and Sasuke did. When they fought it was about expressing your truths to each other without words. When Sakura and Sasuke fought it was about hiding their truths. He could hear every “I’m sorry”, “how do we deal with this”, “How do we move on”, “what are we” from their constant bickering and it drove him crazy. He knew they could get along once they finally figured out how to actually talk to each other. Until then he was stuck with their bickering.

Through the burst of light Naruto caught a glimpse of color next to a boulder. “Over there!” He yelled. They stumbled through the dark towards Naruto’s voice as Sasuke found some roots and plants around and lit them to better see.

“Oh Kami” Sakura whispered when she got the full view of the voice she had heard. It was a boy who had half his body crushed under a boulder.

“Hey” She gently searched for a pulse and found a faint thumping. “ I need you to wake up” but the boy did not. “Sasuke bring the light closer.“ Sasuke quietly obliged.

“He won’t survive transportation.” Sakura assed. “I’ll have to do it here.” 

“Do what the kids practically split in half!” Naruto replied.

“You guys are going to have to trust me on this one. Now help me move the boulder off of him.”

Sasuke and Naruto looked to each other once and decided listening to her was better than arguing about their current predicament.

All three pushed.

The boulder finally moved and Sakura set to work as her hands faintly glowed. "This is so infuriating. I don't know if I could fix a broken bone like this. Naruto channel your chakra into me!"

"I can't even use it to hit a boulder you think that's anyway a good idea."

"Well if we don't figure this out this boy's going to die!"

Sasuke activated his Sharingan, "Naruto try to do it. I'll watch and direct you." Naruto hesitantly put his hands on Sakura's shoulders and tried to remember what it was like to channel chakra. "You've got to pull from your stomach that's where the chakra is stored." 

"Well how do I do that?"

Sakura hands were slowly losing their green glow. "I don't know think with your stomach or something. JUST HURRY"

Naruto didn't know how thinking about food was going to help him in this predicament, but before he could mull it over Sasuke locked eyes with him. "DO IT DOBE." 

"SHUT UP TEME" Naruto yelled as his hands started to feel warm. 

Sakura's hands started to glow brighter. "I'm going to need more to do this Naruto. Go full out"

"You asked for it." Naruto replied as he concentrated at the warmth in his stomach that flowed out of his hands. 

Lines that resembled Sakura's Yin seal started to form on her body and the place where Naruto touched her began to burn red. The boy below Sakura was starting to regain his left side.

"How are you doing that?" Sasuke questioned.

"I've been studying limb regeneration since the war, but this is my first time actually testing it. It's mimicking how the first Hokage used his mokuton jutsu by combining water and earth release, but I'm doing it with yang and yin release to form tissue and cells. 

"That's impressive." Sakura almost faltered at the compliment. 

"Thank you." 

Naruto smiled.

After two hours of Sasuke regulating the boys chakra flow, Sakura rebuilding tissue, and Naruto pumping Chakra into her it was over. The boy had terrible scarring, but was alive. 

"I guess we just have to find out what village to take him to." 

"I think I already know." Sasuke replied. "He's a sharingan user." 

Somewhere deep down between them returning to their young forms and finding this boy in an unfamiliar terrain they all had begun putting the pieces together. 

"If we've gone back in time I'm going to be so pissed." Sakura yelled out as she collapsed onto the ground from exhaustion. 

"Get ready to be pissed then." Sasuke replied.

Naruto just sighed. Whatever this turned out to be he knew it was going to be a long mission if they kept this up. 


	4. Hokage

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TIME TRAVEL SHENANIGANS IS BACK. Which is my less cool name for this monster fic I'm doing. It's a slow burn so thank you sticking with me. I know somethings are confusing and thank you for telling me when they are! All will be explained and revealed I promise.

_ With nothing left behind me _

 

“I don’t know how to take this.” Obito said slumping into his chair.

“Neither did we.” Sakura responded.

“We didn’t think we would make it this far. We thought once the numbers vanished so would we.” Sasuke stated.    
  
“So how long were you gone?” Obito questioned.

_ We’re still gone _ . Something inside of Sakura whispered but she pushed down the thought. This was her new home. It would just take some time. 

“Seven years.” Sasuke replied. 

  
“Well that would explain the difference. Naruto hasn’t said anything in the past 5 minutes. I honestly didn’t think that was possible.”   
  
Instead of the loud outburst about watching out as he was the next to become hokage Obito had come to expect from the blonde, Naruto just met his gaze and grinned “Well I guess we’ve all changed a bit.” 

Obito slumped even further into his chair.

“But seriously when I’m hokage that chair has got to be changed you are destroying it.”

Obito chuckled, well it was still Naruto then. If it wasn’t for the black scroll written in red kanji that sprawled in front of him he would think that team 7 had died and some imposters had come to infiltrate the village. They were too changed they reminded him of what him and kakashi had been like after the war. So very broken, but this generation hadn’t faced a war. This generation had hope.

“How did you convince Hiruzen?”

“If it wasn’t for Sasuke’s sharingan and Naruto’s uncanny resemblance to Minato I think Hiruzen would of killed us the moment we entered the tower.” Sakura stated.

 

Seven Years Ago

 

“What have you brought me Tomi?”

Naruto hadn’t felt this exhausted in years. Was he really this incapable when he was thirteen. He knew it wasn’t just him as we looked to his two best friends who were breathing heavy as well. They slowly walked into the hokage tower they had known so well. It was the same, but different like everything else they had seen.

The same market, but different faces. The same Mountain, but less faces. The same village, but so many differences.

“We found these three brats at the gate carrying the boy that had just been declared dead. Should I send them down?”

Down. Sasuke knew what that meant. This was a time of war. The hokage he knew from his childhood sat at that large desk, but he looked quite different from the man he knew. There was no kindness that lined his eyes just pure iron. This wasn’t the old man that had to retake the hokage chair after Minato’s death. This was the third hokage in his rightful seat during his time. His eyes bore through the three of them like he could read every battle they’ve faced on their scars.

Sasuke stepped forward. “I’m a Uchiha” he stated having his one tomoe eyes spin. Hating the way the world didn’t click into place the way they had with his old eyes.

“So you are. What are three brats doing sneaking into my village.” Hiruzen questioned as he looked down at Sakura and she truly felt thirteen again at his unwanted gaze. 

“We were just bringing back your injured ninja.” Sakura managed to get out.   
  
“And how did you know where to bring him back to?” Sakura clamped her mouth shut. What were they going to tell the man. 

“Listen old man. You may not know us but we sure as hell know you and you’re just going to have to trust us when we say we don’t mean harm.” Naruto yelled and Sasuke just sighed and put his hand to his temple.

“Send them downstairs”

“Wait. Okay wait a goddamn second.” Sakura barked out as she walked towards the desk. The shadows of anbu moved with her. “You want to know the truth? Well we somehow time traveled and here we are. That dobe over there is Minato’s son. See the resemblance yet? That Uchiha brat is the son of Fugaku and Minato Uchiha his brother Itachi is probably alive at this point? I don’t know. We knew this place because this is our village too. You wouldn’t hurt your own people so I just ask that you let us go to sort out this mess we’ve gotten into. We don’t want to change the timeline so it’s best if we leave this place as soon as possible.”

Hiruzen’s eyes strayed to the two boys behind her and back to her. “So who’s child are you? With that attitude I’d dare say Tsunade finally settled down.” Sakura laughed at the comment.

“Sorry she did not. I’m Sakura Haruno. My parents are civilians. If you go look in the civilian district you’ll find my pink haired father selling fish or will.. I guess.”

Hiruzen smiled up at her. It wasn’t a pleasant smile. “So haven’t you already changed the world if what you say is true. You saved that boy and from the report his team had written he was good as dead.”

Hiruzen saw something flicker over the young girls face.

“So what. What kind of ninja would we be if we let someone die just so we could have the security of not messing with time. We changed things the moment we stepped here and we will deal with the consequences.” Naruto shouted.

Sasuke kept quiet thinking that what did it matter if they saved one uchiha if they were all going to die anyways.

“I see. Unfortunately without proof I can’t fully believe your story.” 

Naruto lifted his shirt up and off. “Well look at this then. Should look familiar.”

He was pointing to the seal on his stomach as he stepped up to the desk next to Sakura. 

Hiruzen stood out of his seat and pulled the young boy closer. He examined the seal and touched it with a glowing hand. Naruto yelped as Hiruzens chakra explored his seal.

“I don’t know how to take this.” Hiruzen stated.

Sasuke had been staring at Naruto’s back ever since he had pulled his shirt off. 

“Naruto you have a number tattooed on your back.”

Naruto spun around trying to see his own back. “Where!”

Sakura grabbed him and looked. “It says 2555.” 

She ran up to Sasuke and started pulling. “HEY.” He yelled.

“Shut up let me check.” And Sasuke had the same number.

She turned her back to everyone and pulled her dress down and her bandages down.

“It’s on you too” Naruto answered.

“What is it?” Sakura questioned.

“I don’t know.” Sasuke responded.

“I’ve made up my mind. You three must get out. I don’t care where you go just not here. I don’t need another obstacle messing with my plans. If you are who you are then go find a way home. If not consider today your lucky day. Tomi take them to the gate.”

The shadows moved once again and six anbu members appeared. “Time to go little ones.”

 

They didn’t protest as they were grabbed and dragged out of the room. They passed hallways of unfamiliar faces. They passed streets of people and Sasuke watched every uchiha crest pass with so much guilt he thought he had buried. Naruto secretly looked towards every red haired woman and blond man hoping to catch a glimpse of the faces that haunted his dreams. Sakura just stared out towards the memorial stone wondering if she could catch a glimpse of her Sensei. It shouldn’t of surprised her that he was there. He looked so small and broken. Sakura wanted to run to him to tell him it would be okay. That he’d get three awful genin and they would do anything for him. She wanted to tell the boy many things, but a brown haired girl ran in her place and approached Kakashi. She was shouting so loud that even Sakura could hear.

“He’s alive. Someone found him and healed him Kakashi. Obito’s in the hospital.” She grabbed his lifeless arm and tugged. In a daze Kakashi followed not believing the impossible until he saw it with his own eyes.

Sakura’s blood rain cold. The pieces to that final puzzle of who they had saved began to fit neatly together. She looked towards Naruto and Sasuke and saw that they were thinking the same thing as her.

 

As they were pushed out of the village Sasuke looked up at the place he wanted to leave, to destroy, and to fix. 

Naruto looked up at the only place he could call home.

Sakura looked up at the place she wanted to return to.

“We are so fucked.” Naruto said. Sakura and Sasuke nodded in agreement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my poor babies. They got lots of choices up ahead of them both in the past and future.


	5. We Couldn't hide

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the next chapter. A bit of past and a bit of future. After this chapter I'll be focusing more on the future with bits of past thrown in. So get ready for a shift!

_The days we live tomorrow_

_Are not the times we live today_

 

_Seven years ago_

The three of them sit in a circle.

So this is it. They've unknowingly changed the world.

Naruto and Sasuke are trying to calmly go through the stakes of what they have gotten into.

Sakura thinks the answer has never been so easy. She saw the way Sasuke looked at every Uchiha crest. Glimpsed at the countless times Naruto would stare quietly at every blonde haired man. 

The questions of whether they just sit and wait till time expires are pointless to her. How could Sakura tell the two people she cared for most in the world that they didn't deserve the chance of happiness. Her answer was simple. She would rip the world apart for them and Sakura had become a master at ripping herself apart for them. It's complicated when trying to describe the “we both have tried to kill each other” relationship, Sasuke and her share and she knows he feels guilty over it and she knows he's trying in his own way and that doesn't mean she isn't still going to be stubborn about the whole thing. But none of that really changes how easy of a decision this is.

“Of course we do it” she says and Sasuke and Naruto look at her like she’s a god.

She said what they couldn't because they both know what's to gain for themselves. The thing they had lost before finding each other, so who are they to demand it; to mess with all of time just to be loved. Well Sakura says so and they always lost to her in arguing. Besides they all know she’s the one with the most to lose. 

Their debate becomes serious.

“If we do this it really means goodbye to the Konoha we knew. People could be different.”

“Everything is going to change.”

“I wish Kakashi-Sensei was here.”

“Yeah and Yamato-san and Sai”

“Well we’ve already messed with the future.”

There’s a long pause as they settle into what they have to do.

“If we are going to do this we have to do it right.” Sasuke starts.  

“Agreed. Where do we start?” Sakura counters.

“I don’t know.” Sasuke replies. The weight of his words is felt throughout the three. 

“Let’s make a list” Naruto suggest as he starts writing on the floorboards of the abandoned shack they had been hiding out in. “Save the world” He says slowly as he writes.

“That’s too vague we have to break it down.” Sakura says taking the writing tool from him.

“Well we already saved Obito.” Naruto replies.

“Look at us” Sasuke replies sarcastically. “Won’t matter if the Uchiha still get wiped out.”

Sakura rolls her eyes at the comment. "Way to be optimistic." 

"I'm just saying that what led to our timeline was a series of terrible events that are going to take all of our time and energy to prevent. Also we are all powerless in our current states. Lastly we have no idea what's going to happen to us when the numbers on our back go out. It could be a death count." Sasuke spits out voicing the concerns they all quietly shared. 

"Well I think that shouldn't stop us from trying. If that means we don't survive I'm okay with it." Naruto says in his usual manner and than quietly adds,"If that means that one day another blonde boy gets to grow up with parents and meet and annoying Uchiha and a loud mouthed Kunichi than I'm willing to sacrifice it all." Just like that Sasuke is calm and Sakura keeps her breathing steady as she things about what this all could mean for them. 

“Okay, what about Madara?” Sakura chimes in.

“Kill Madara. Definitely.” Naruto replies as Sakura starts writing.

“Won’t he die soon anyway?” Sakura questions.

“Yeah but not before he gets his hands on another Uchiha to manipulate.” Sasuke states.

“Stop black zetsu.”

“Find Pain and sort that whole thing out.”

“Stop Uchiha massacre”

“Stop nine tail incident aka Naruto’s birthday fiasco.” Sakura writes.

“Kill Danzo”

“Save Sai and all the manipulated root kids.”

“That weird guy.” Sasuke responds.

“Dont call him weird!” Naruto defends.

“Yeah he's pretty much family.” Sakura replies as she underlines the task to drive home the point.

“Orochimaru?”

“Akatsuki?”

“Man i do not want to do that one.”

“So save the world.”

“I guess”

“We’ve got seven years to do it.”

“Look at us we are just three brats.”

“I only have a barely activated Sharingan.”

“Yeah we suck.”

 

Sakura sits up from her writing. “Actually I was thinking about this I think it best. If we don't rely on our old skills. I don't want people confusing us later. Or wondering how we learned techniques from people who haven't taught them or invented them yet.”

“So start completely over?” Naruto questions.

“Kind of. I just think it’ll keep us from messing with our future selves. They can be whoever they want.” The unsaid part being that they wouldn’t be them.

“Why did you have to go messing with my eyes.” Sasuke sighs taking in the weight of everything once again. The impossible choices and the chances.

“Yeah well they aren't your eyes anymore” Sakura retorts.

“I shouldn't stay in Konoha either. I’m too recognizable, I look just like my dad and this list is mainly outside the village.” Naruto pulls at his hair. Sasuke and Sakura are both surprised at his thoughtful statement.

“I should go too.” Sasuke replies.

“What! That means I’ll have to stay. I always have to stay.” Sakura grumbles thinking about how awful it would be to take the Chunin exams for a third time.

“It makes the most sense you don’t have family everywhere you go or a resemblance to the next Hokage. We need someone on the inside. You’ll have to infiltrate Konoha somehow and get in a position that you can feed us info.” Sasuke's mouth was drying from the amount of talking he was having to do.

“Fine but that means I get Danzo.”

“What.”

“No way.”

“Yeah he’s mine, so is root.”

Sasuke stares her down with one of his particular looks that Sakura has translated into 'I know exactly what I'm doing so listen to me' faces, “Sakura-"

“No Sasuke I don’t think it’s healthy to kill him again yourself. He’s also messed with people I care about so it’s my turn, besides you'll be busy." 

“Fine”

“Fine”

And that’s how they began to fix Konoha.

 

 

_Present_

It's been three days since they "returned". Every night they have dreams of a past life they don't remember. Memories of the people that use to inhabit this world. Where they went when the trio arrived they don't know. 

Sakura is becoming more aware of how good she had it. How strong her suffering made her. She's never felt more helpless in this new world. She hasn't approached any of her old friends terrified they would know instantly that she was an imposter. She sure feels like one. 

Naruto is constantly jealous of the boy in the photos of his bedroom. He’ll never admit it or show it on the outside, but it’s eating him up. This life he never got to live and no amount of half remembered dreams will ever compare. He knows he has his own apartment, but he can't stop sleeping at his parent's home. He's afraid it'll all disappear. 

Sasuke still wakes to spinning eyes and blood. The first time Itachi comes around Sasuke has a panic attack. Itachi being the understanding and gentle human sees a change in his brother immediately and doesn’t question the distance, but Sasuke can't bear getting too close. He thinks it would disgrace his brother's memory. The sacrifice he made. Even though he knows this is also his brother but he feels the guilt eating at him.

 

Kakashi keeps finding his team members at the memorial stone, which confuses him to no end. They haven't lost anyone. He finds Sakura there first by accident on his way to lunch with Obito and Rin. He doesn't know what to do. 

"Sakura what are you doing in this dreary place." 

Sakura looks up and smiles a too fake smile that somehow feels like a slap in his face. "I was just leaving my respects." 

"Who's name do you know?" He questions looking over the small number of names trying to see if he recognized who she was here for.

"His name isn't there. It's more of a symbolic gesture" She states as she walks away. "Have a nice afternoon Kakashi."

He wondered when she had dropped the sensei. He started to wonder about a lot of things concerning his teammates. 

Naruto only visits late at night when he wakes from happy memories he never got to experience. 

Sasuke visits at dawn after long nights wrestling with his past and his future. 

 

All three of them only visit together once. It's after they go out drinking with the rookie nine. It had started out great, but the longer the three stayed the longer they started to suffocate on guilt. Everyone was just so content. Not to say that Chouji wasn't ordering everything off the menu or that Hinata still could barely speak up, but they were all missing something. It was in the way their hands took things off the counter without caution. How Ino's in particular were scarless. Shikarmaru had lost the darkness to his eyes that came with the loss of Asuma-sensei. It was a reality they weren't ready to face. So they left for the memorial stone. 

"I think I've got to get out of here." Sakura states after a lengthy silence staring at a rock with names. She didn't know how to digest the sadness she felt about it having so few. Guilt surged instead. "I'm not asking you guys to come with, but everything here is just too much right now. I'm just looking for ghosts." She takes a deep breath. Naruto and Sasuke both put a hand on her shoulder. 

"Lets go then." Naruto replies with all the resolve that makes him truly a miracle to Sakura. She'll never know how the sun entered her life, but everyday she counts herself lucky.

"Might as well see the world we changed in all it's glory anyway." Sasuke states as he squeezes Sakura's shaking shoulder. The moon to guide her through this darkness. Since he knew more than any of them what it held. 

"What would I do without you guys." Sakura questions as she wipes away a few stray tears. 

"A lot probably." Sasuke replies with a smirk. Naruto's laughter travels through town.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank's for reading. I love the comments as well they honestly keep me writing.


	6. Goodbyes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your patience. I'm also editing and going through the first 5 chapters as well so there was a bit of revamping. I'm glad to continue this journey with you.

_The walls I built beside me_   
_Won't last this anyway_

 

Naruto hadn’t seen Sakura that broken in a very long time. He knew that leaving her in Konoha while they left must of been painful and similar to a past only the three now shared. That’s why Naruto and Sasuke dropped Sakura off at her apartment promising to leave first thing in the morning. They didn't go home instead they ended up in the Hokage tower.

Sasuke owed Sakura much. He could never find the words to express what she had done for him so he made a point to show his gratitude in his actions. Leaving the village was the least he could do for the woman that had torn through an army day and night so they could finish their list. Who had let them sacrifice a world for a better one.

They were both surprised and not surprised at all to see Obito asleep at his desk. “You still want to be Hokage?” Sasuke whispered to Naruto, but he saw the longing stare Naruto gave to that desk and all it represented as Naruto replied, “More than anything.”

Sasuke is reminded of the countless different ways he has seen Naruto grow from the boy that would pick fights with him. They had aged so much through their experience, but there was no physical proof, just the way their eyes held something older and wiser. Now more than ever he could really see Naruto sitting behind that desk exhausted, but so happy. Sasuke would make it happen. He would tear the world apart for him again and again. It was the least he could do for that boy that had chased him around the world until he came home. 

Sasuke cleared his throat as loud as possible which pulled Naruto and Obito into consciousness. Obito slowly looked up at the two and immediately noticed their own tired eyes.

“What's wrong.” Obito snapped into action standing as he looked at the still dark sky. “What time is it?”

“We need a mission.” Naruto prompted.

Obito sat back into his chair understanding blooming across his face. “But you just finished a long mission…”

“One with leniency on pretty much every aspect.” Sasuke chimed in.

“So you guys want a vacation disguised as a mission?” Obito was shuffling through the papers on his desk trying to unpack the small amount of info they gave for what it actually meant. He found that organizing his desk was a sure way to help organize his thoughts.

“No” Naruto stated.

“Yes” Sasuke countered. No reason to hide it.

“Well I don’t have an excuse handy to deny this request and you both have plenty of time acquired for a vacation. Just you two?” Obito searched their faces for what they weren’t saying.

Naruto and Sasuke shared a glance. “No Sakura as well.” Sasuke added.

Obito pondered that sentence and leaned further in his chair. “What about Kakashi? I could let him take some time off he’s being doing quite a lot lately and-”

“No just us three.” Naruto responded and Sasuke nodded in agreement. They both buried the guilt.

Obito looked over the two in front of him and sighed he was done pretending. “You know you could just tell everyone. I don’t think you three are handling this very well and maybe it’s time to just talk about what you all went through… and are still going through.”

Naruto gave a soft smile “We just need some time to sort it out. I think if we go see the world we helped it’ll help strengthen our resolve. Here just doesn’t feel right… yet.” He couldn’t tell Obito the other reason he didn't have the guts to tell anyone about what they did. He couldn’t stand the idea that his parents might look at him as if he was an imposter. Someone taking the place of their real son.

Obito sighed again as he took in that unfamiliar expression on the boy in front of him. “Very well. I’ll find you a cover mission to tell the village.”

They both bowed and began to leave as Sasuke felt the need to add, “We leave at sunrise.”

They were gone before Obito had a chance to respond.

 

They left at dawn. Packs filled to the brim and eyes heavy, but as the sun rose over the hidden village, and Sakura took the hands of her best friends she knew the journey ahead would be a bright one. Looking to Sasuke and Naruto she saw that they thought the same. They had been running and running towards danger for so many years it felt only right to take the long road this time.

Stepping onto the damp morning ground Sakura felt a weight lift from her shoulders. “So where should we head first?”

“We should go to Rain.” Sasuke stated as he smirked to the two, “I’ve got some things I want to show you both.”

Naruto silently wondered if Jirarya was alive; If he should of looked for him these past few days. Guilt again swarmed him, but the one thing those seven years had taught Naruto was how to hide what he felt. So Naruto smiled his too bright smile and they began their journey to Rain.

Not one of them looked back to the village they were once again leaving. It was easy now to leave the place they had called home. So none saw the lone ninja sitting in a tree watching them depart.

Kakashi immediately headed to the Hokage tower to try and understand what was happening. He didn't care if he had to pummel Obito for the information he wanted. He needed to know what had happened in those three months. His students, his teammates, his friends were acting like they couldn't trust him. They told him everything. He recalled a particular story Naruto had divulged to him about his first kiss on a mission in wave and well it was the most excruciating thing Kakashi had ever sat through. Especially with the fifteen year old Naruto blushing the entire time, but he had done it, and had sat through ever fear Sasuke had voiced of not being as good as his brother, and through every discussion Sakura bombarded him about trying to keep up with the other two. He always was there for them and he couldn't understand why they had distanced themselves.

He thought he had headed to the Hokage tower but the memorial stone was in front of him. What was it that had drawn them here. Kakashi sighed and looked over the names on the stone; some he knew and some were too old. His fingers went straight for the long thin line that had been etched to the left corner of the stone. He let his mind think about the ninja who had put it there. The one who he had found on a morning like this.

"You really shouldn't be defacing Konoha's history like that Tori-sama." He said to the teenager in front of him. They were the same age, yet even he acknowledged what she could do. She had just gotten back from a mission he could tell from the stains on her Anbu uniform and the way her body slumped over the stone. He rarely saw her as she ran the Hokage's Anbu squad, where as he was out on missions most of the time.

"Oh Hatake-san you should know not to sneak up on an officer when they are defacing history." She chuckled half-heartedly and continued her vigil. "Unless you want a Kunai in the face."

He studied the way her hands gave a slight tremor every fifteen seconds and wondered just what the Hokage had her doing that night. "Tough mission." Was all he felt comfortable saying.

"Lets just say I crossed something off a long list of mine. So I'd thought I'd leave a trace of it here." Tori straightened and looked at the long line she had etched. He didn't know what it was suppose to represent, but she was happy with the result. There was a long silence. "There wasn't anything left. Theres still nothing left." Maybe she had forgotten he was there because she seemed to be talking to herself. So he kept silent, but she tore her eyes from the stone and turned her masked face towards him. "I just needed to leave proof that it existed." He still wonders if she included herself in that statement.

He didn't know how to respond.

He was struck with that same speechlessness as he thought about his three teammates; all steam leaving him as he wondered if Tori-sama would of known what to say to those three. If he could of done something different for them. He slouched his shoulders and decided to head home. Wondering if he could fix this.


End file.
